COUP
by Maus17
Summary: It was like the calm and quiet before the storm, though not nearly as sark. this calm and quiet was devious and slithering like a snake, waiting to pounce on all of them and sink its fangs in. None of them saw it coming, and none of them just how deadly it could be. The words were clear as day: "This is a coup."


_**It was like an impossible equation. All calculation, speculation- no final answer. No product. **_

* * *

She rounds the corner, chest heaving as her eyes flit to and fro, blurry with adrenaline, tears making everything colored slurs- and it's funny, because amidst all of that, she can see him very clearly.

It's like everything is black and white, and he is a blotch of color, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Blue and red make purple on his torn shirt, and crimson oozes steadily down his tanned skin, sides fluctuating with rasping breaths as red froth bubbles up at the corners of his lips. In the few seconds that it takes for her to process what she is seeing, she can feel the blood in her veins freeze.

She's found him. What's left of him. He's fading.

Her heart climbs into her throat, and her feet stumble forwards with a mind of their own as she scrambles for him like a dying man dashing for a piece of bread, his name clawing its way up her throat.

"GUATEMALA!" she screams, digging her nails into the baby blue fabric of his favorite sweater, trembling as his name echoes and bounces off the walls, teasing her. Maus grasps his face gently, angling it so their eyes meet, and his labored breathing eases a bit.

"Y...You're okay..." he sputters, melting against the floor, frame going slack. "..Q-Que bueno...I was...I..."

"Guate, no, Luis, no, you can't, you can't, no puedes, stop! Stop! Look at me, look at me, get up. Get up- you're a country, get up, fight this, it's okay..I'm here for you, you're not alone..." she rambles on and on, curling around him protectively, pressing herself against him to feel his warmth, only to be cheated, for his body is cooling rapidly, and he is pale, drowning in a pool of his own arterial nectar. It laps at her knees, soaks into the fabric of her jeans, and she shakes her head, hair sticking to the cold sweat on her neck as she lets the words tumble from her lips. "No, you can't do this, no- its not possible. You're a country, you're strong! You're strong, remember? You don't get hurt..ever. Y-you said you were going to help me with calculus because you're good at math- you love math, e-even you don't like telling people. Guate, no, help me with calculus, remember?!"

Her voice rises in a fevered pitch, and he lets a small smile curl his lips upward, vision blurring as he forces a sluggish, stiff arm to move. Like a drunken man, he rips to rosary from his neck, a few stray beads bouncing and floating lightly on the crimson, tainted. He blindly feels for her small hand and presses the beloved trinket into it, quivering with the effort as he wheezes and speaks, voice like that of a thousand year old man.

"..Y-..You know...I..I've always..Loved ya...twerp...even..though I...Though...I..Sucked...at...words..cause..math.." he gasped, eyes glimmering faintly. "Math..always..was my thing...huh...? H-hah...keep..that safe for me.."

He shivers and lets his eyes flutter shut, drops clinging to them, sliding down his cheeks, and she wails, clutching at his hand.

"No, its yours, you keep it, you'll need it when you get better! You'll need it! Guate..Guate..Guatemala..Luis..Luis...You were going to make tamales tonight, you were going to help me with calculus, you were going to finish those papers, you were going to call España, you were going to hang out with me..and L-liza, and Gil, and..we were...going to go to the movies..." she sobs brokenly, clutching at him desperately as she feels his chest begin to slow. "I love you too, and thats why you need to stay, I love you even though I called you a grouch, and teased you, I did it because I love you..."

He is silent now, immobile, and she feels a dead weight in her hand, instead of the heat of his palm.

"...Please don't leave me.."

An inhuman screech makes her ears ring, and it takes her several seconds to realize its coming from her.


End file.
